Except for the coaches. They never really get time off.

Pro football teams must be doing all that preparation because the outcome is so important to them. And for the love of the game I suppose. But what’s really weird is that they train all their players really well. Even the ones who aren’t likely to play. On top of that, during the game, do you realize they use all eleven guys on every single play?

Isn’t that what we should do when it comes to church safety and security? Find the right people. Train them all really well. Develop a winning strategy. Scout the enemy and adjust our play based on their moves. Practice, rehearse, and improve. Play all the players we can legally play.

If an NFL team played ball like most churches approach security, they’d have a record like the Browns. First, they’d pretend the other teams don’t exist or are not likely to be aggressive. Then they’d provide lip service to training, with no drills or practical exercises.  During the game there would be no coaches in the stands with binoculars gathering valuable intelligence. And on the field, the quarterback would be protected only by the center and maybe another offensive lineman who took an online course about blocking.

Using a “Security” approach to the problem of mass shootings in churches is like fielding your defense with just a middle linebacker and a strong safety. When you use a “Threat Management” approach it’s like fielding your whole team and three guys who are invisible. And they’re supported by brilliant minds on the sidelines and in the box using the best technology available.

Do that as a church leader and, God willing, you will never need to call an ambulance to your house of worship. Do that as a NFL coach and maybe, just maybe, you can beat the stinking Patriots.

Call us and we’ll introduce you to the trophy-winning Threat Management Model.

You see, he’d already tried everything else, including paying the attacking king to leave. Finally, encouraged by the prophet Isaiah, he gave the outcome over to God. “Now, O Lord our God, I pray, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O Lord, are God.” (2 Kings 19:19)

What’s the lesson for us? We advocate starting the defense of your church with prayer. Of course, you should use the wisdom God gave you to take other steps, but none will be as powerful as prayer.  Remember WorshipSafe Premise #5: God always does his part so we must do ours.

 If you utilize the other rings of protection we offer, you will probably never need to physically defend your congregation. But in a worst-case scenario, this is the layer that will make the difference between life and death. There are three basic approaches to defending against a threat:

1. Passive – The passive approach to defense typically involves putting a barrier between you and danger, although for our purposes it includes fleeing. While no door or room is impenetrable, most buildings have rooms that can be strongly secured with minimal effort or expense. Note: Trying to secure people in a room that cannot be reasonably secured is more dangerous than letting them flee or fend for themselves.
2. Active – With this choice we meet danger head on. This might involve verbally de-escalating an irate counseling patient, physically subduing a subject who is assaulting a congregant, or using a firearm to engage an armed assailant. To succeed, especially in a crowded environment like a church, advanced training is necessary.
3. Fluid – The ideal choice as it incorporates both the above options, with the ability to utilize the appropriate one at the appropriate time, or both simultaneously.

The proper choice of which approach to use must be made prayerfully, with consideration for the culture and beliefs of your church. Some churches wouldn’t hesitate to put an M240 Machine Gun in the choir loft while others shudder at the thought of a member with a pocket knife. Please make the decision that’s best for your individual church.

But whatever your choice, don’t forget prayer. Hezekiah raised and trained an army. He fortified his cities. But it wasn’t until he prayed that things really began to happen. In fact, that night, the angel of the Lord killed 85,000 Assyrian soldiers, which compelled the rest of the army to return home without a fight. Maybe, before we set to work on our part, we should ask the Lord of Hosts to go before us.

And, of course, don’t hesitate to ask us if we can help you do your part.

Oops.

Fortunately for all concerned, the bullet missed the suspect and passed through the floorboard into the ground. But how could this have happened? This was a veteran officer with years of experience and hundreds of hours on the range. Well, it all comes down to one simple thing: To be effective, deadly force training must be stress-proof. In other words, all tactics and techniques taught must take into account the psycho-physiological changes that occur to the human brain and body under extremely high levels of stress.

A cursory analysis of this incident reveals two primary factors that contributed to this near miss: muscle mirroring and capillary constriction. Mirroring is the tendency for a muscle group to respond the same way its corresponding muscle group is being asked to respond.  For instance, right now, flex both your thigh muscles. Easy, right? Now try to flex just one really hard while keeping the other completely relaxed. That’s a little harder. Under stress it becomes very, very difficult.

That’s why, when the officer gripped the baton really hard with his left hand, his right hand mirrored the movement, causing him to fire a round that should never have been fired.

“But wait,” you say, “his finger shouldn’t have been on the trigger to begin with!” And you would be right to say so. The trigger finger should always rest outside the trigger guard until you’re ready to shoot. Which brings us to factor number two: capillary constriction. Capillary constriction refers to how, under high stress, the body reduces blood flow through the capillaries, causing blood to pool in the major muscle groups in preparation for fighting or fleeing. Unfortunately, one of the side effects is a loss of feeling in the extremities, like the fingers.

The officer in the story above couldn’t feel his digits and had no idea his index finger had slipped inside the trigger guard. The combination of these two factors very nearly ended in tragedy. (Here’s a video of another near miss.)

You see, just getting some training isn’t enough. It’s got to be the right training.

TIP: For anyone that carries a firearm in your church, you must determine the answer to these two questions:

1. How many hours of firearms and use-of-force training have you had?
2. Have you been trained in the psycho-physiological effects of survival-level stress on the human body?

We offer world-class education and training in all aspects of use-of-force. Just ask if we can help.

Once upon a time, while trying to arrest a rather large fellow with a history of violence, Tim found that good verbal skills outweigh good physical skills every time. As the suspect screamed and cursed and refused to lay prone for handcuffing, Tim prepared for the fight of his life. Suddenly it occurred to him that there might be some significant reason this guy wasn’t cooperating, so he asked, “Is there anything I can do to get you to comply?” The burly man responded with “Yeah, cuff me standing up. I just got this silver belt buckle and I ain’t scratching it up on the pavement!” A compromise was reached and the tattooed fellow was secured in the kneeling position, affording tactical superiority for Tim while preserving the suspect’s prized buckle.

There are tips and tricks known by some that can de-escalate explosive situations in unexpected ways. Recently, we provided Verbal De-Escalation Training to pastoral and support staff members of an NWA church.  Afterwards, Ben, the pastor who invited us, summed up the training experience in his own words…

As a church leader we know there are times in counseling, in dealing with students, with young children, or with people who come to your church looking for a hand up in their lives that sometimes those situations can turn into a verbal conflict.  Three things that stood out to me today are –

We live in a world where there are lots of needs and people don’t always express their needs in a healthy way.  Most of the time inappropriate behavior really is a person who has a need and is just not expressing it appropriately. 

Controlling the way that you react in an emotionally charged situation is more important than trying to control another person.  If you can control your own behavior you will be better able to meet the needs of other people.

Always try to be an ally.  As a Minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ we know that the underlying need is always the need for Jesus Christ in a person’s life.  So, our goal now is to de-escalate any conflict, try to meet a physical need, or an emotional need, or a safety need first… then we can better meet the spiritual need for Jesus Christ.

TIP 1: Be reminded that the people you serve are broken.

TIP 2: Know that the best hope for influencing others to a desirable outcome is to focus on what you control: your attitude and your actions.

TIP 3: Remember the end game isn’t necessarily feeding the hungry or clothing the poor, but those actions may be the only thing that opens the door for the lost to hear the gospel.

During the WorshipSafe Seminar we taught how people don’t just snap and commit violence… that there is a stair-step progression to violence… and that the first step is having a grievance.  If you recognize that your staff needs support in the area of dealing with emotionally charged grievances, please reach out.  We can help!

In Latin, praemittere, literally means pre-mission as in what is sent before or to state something before something else. It is the conclusion previously drawn which leads to yet another conclusion. The premise.

Since all human endeavors begin with a premise, it is very important to get that part right. If not, most everything that follows will be wrong. And some of the most successful people of our time started with a belief that, at first glance, seemed to run counter to conventional wisdom.

Chick-fil-a founder Truett Cathy believed the key to success was the realization that he wasn’t in the chicken business, but in the people business.

NFL Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy believed the key to winning Super Bowls wasn’t harder workouts or better play calling but to change the game-time habits of players.

Back in 1940, cartoonist Joe Simon believed this country must enter the war to defeat Germany.  So, to counter anti-war propaganda, he created Captain America and inspired millions.

If success is any indicator, evidently Truett, Tony, and Joe were right.

At WorshipSafe we too began our efforts with a set of premises. To better understand what we believe will keep you as safe as you can be, we offer you our five founding premises:

The Premises

1. Preventing a problem is always easier than solving a problem. No matter what it is, the difficulty you never encounter is far easier to deal with than one that’s already begun. There are safety protocols for changing a tire on the side of a busy highway, but none are as safe as “run-flat” tires.
2. Anticipating future dangers lets us plan accordingly. As a police officer, one of the most common ways to get hurt is while handcuffing a suspect. By studying common methods of resistance, new recruits learn which clues to watch for and proper responses to each one.
3. Early warning systems save lives. Whether it’s information that warns you of a tornado, a stroke, or an imminent violent attack, the sooner you know the safer you are. Forewarned is forearmed.
4. Efficacy is mandatory. There is danger in doing things that make us feel safer because, once we are more comfortable, we tend to stop our efforts. A better focus is to ensure that our actions are objectively effective in truly making us safer.
5. God always does his part so we must do ours. We never have to worry about whether the Creator will do what He said. He always does. That frees us to make certain we do what we can do to keep our people safe.

TIP: Ask yourself on what premise have you based your approach to church security and safety. Can you identify the underlying beliefs? Are they true?

To simplify things, feel free to adopt the ones we chose. They come from decades of expertise.

And of course, if you need a little help, just reach out.

“Matt Laubhan saved my life.” According to Tupelo, Mississippi resident Chad Mims, that’s what everybody was saying after the 2014 tornado that destroyed 2000 homes but killed only one person.* As WTVA’s chief meteorologist, Laubhan sounded the alarm long and loud, trying to convince people to take shelter, that the danger was real. He aired pictures of his baby girl making emergency plans. But it was his on-air evacuation of the weather studio that everyone still talks about.  With the words “Basement, now!” Laubhan ordered the crew downstairs as the twister closed in. That move likely convinced any remaining doubters to take shelter.

As to his role in saving potentially hundreds of lives, Laubhan says he’s humbled by the praise. But he credits his training and reliance on God for guiding him that day.

Maybe Matt Laubhan has something to teach us as well. Because whether we are talking tornados or heart attacks or targeted violence, early warning systems save lives. Let’s explore how this fact can help you in this week’s WorshipSafe tips.

An early warning system (EWS) is anything that gives you advanced notice of danger, giving time to prepare and implement plans. Our seminars, the recent history of attacks at churches, and this very message all serve as early warnings to what might happen. But let’s get more specific about other systems you can implement.

1. Domestic Violence EWS – Domestic violence is prevalent in our society with one in six women being victimized at some point in their lives. The tendency toward secrecy is what makes this problem so dangerous and keeps people from talking about it. TIP: Initiate a Domestic Violence program for your congregation, offering support for both victims and offenders. You may utilize classes and support groups, giving encouragement and confidentiality to anyone who comes forward with information about a DV situation.
2. Politics/Trends EWS – We know that some people are friendlier to the church than others. The same might be said of politicians because most of them are people. Knowing what those in power believe and are saying can be an indicator of things to come. TIP: Make this topic part of your weekly security briefing, putting plans in place to respond as things play out.
3. Threatening Communications EWS – Churches sometimes receive emails, letters and packages that give cause for concern. Threats may be direct (“Someone is going to die”), indirect (“Your church is going to pay”) or incoherent (“Ezekiel will appear with subjugation”) or some combination of the three. TIP: Assign one person to categorize and monitor all such communication, reaching out to an expert for analysis and recommendations.
4. Parking Lot EWS – Both experience and statistics tell us most violent issues occur or begin in the parking lot. TIP: Assign observers with walkie-talkies and earpieces to scan parking lots and forward information to door monitors.
5. Heads Up EWS – How many prayers begin with the words “Please bow your heads and close your eyes”? Unfortunately, that practice creates a perfect situation for an attacker, as he knows no one will see it coming. TIP: Ask security team members to pray with their heads up and eyes open as they scan their surroundings.

We’ve given you five to consider for now, but at WorshipSafe we promote several effective early warning systems that allow you to prepare, plan, implement, and respond.

Because, as Matt Laubhan might say, “There’s a storm coming.”

*As reported on ClarionLedger.com

In his book “How Do You Kill 11 Million People?,” author Andy Andrews simplifies the process that terrorists and dictators and convicts have always used to accomplish nefarious purposes. In fact, the origin of this technique could be traced back to Genesis 3. In what might seem at first glance to be an oversimplification, the three-word answer still rings true: “Lie to them.”

That’s really all it takes. But to be especially successful the lie should promise something they desire. Lucifer promised Eve omniscience. Hitler promised Chamberlain peace. And Bin Laden promised Flight 93’s Jarrah that heaven followed martyrdom. In order to correct these errors, God sent Christ, Britain called Churchill and Todd Beamer rallied enough passengers to crash United 93 into a cornfield instead of the capitol. But what if they never had to act?

In two of the three examples mentioned above, we know that there were warning signs. Lots of warning signs. Yet no one took effective action. Or at least the right people didn’t take the right action, leaving those affected to believe they must fend for themselves. And that can be dangerous because everyone isn’t a Churchill or a Beamer. We just saw such a case in a matter that’s a little closer to home.

Mark Storms of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the fatal shooting of fellow congregant Robert Braxton III, just prior to Sunday morning worship. And it didn’t happen the way you think. Evidently, Braxton became upset because someone was sitting in his seat and caused a bit of a scene. When no one took effective action, Storms approached Braxton with his concealed weapon still holstered and showed him a badge he’d ordered off the internet, asking him to leave the church. Instead of submitting to Storm’s request, Braxton punched the self-appointed security officer who immediately pulled his gun and shot Braxton in the chest.

Situations like this leave us wondering what would have happened if this church had addressed the issue of security and safety? What if they’d shared their actions with the congregation? What if they’d formed a team and educated them on how to de-escalate such a problem? Or if they’d developed a policy for concealed carry that included the most basic rule about the use of deadly force: You can only use deadly force (that force which is likely to cause death or serious bodily injury) if you reasonably believe that you or another person are in imminent fear of death or serious bodily harm.

Getting punched usually isn’t enough.

You see, a leadership vacuum greatly increases the risk of vigilantism. When people see their leaders as uncaring or ineffective some of them will take action on their own. According to their own plan. With questionable, if not tragic, results.

Our tip this week is to have a five-minute meeting with everyone is your church that might be carrying a weapon. Ask the police officers or trained security guards not to respond at first, then ask the concealed-carry holders to tell you in a single sentence when they are allowed to shoot someone. Be certain their answer aligns with the most basic rule above. Then tell them Mark Storm’s story. Then pray.

To take it one step further, reach out to us and schedule some use-of-force education or verbal de-escalation training or subject control tactics for your team. We want to help you and your people worship in peace.

– Doug and Tim

As soon as a tragedy like the Texas shooting occurs we get instantly inundated with messaging. The broadcast media explodes trying to blame someone and social media blows up with a million people’s opinions. Finding fault is easy when you don’t let the facts get in the way.

It’s the liberals. It’s the conservatives. We need less guns. We need more guns. Tirades galore.

But very few people talk about the existence of evil. Or the fact that we live in a broken world we can never really fix. Or anything that isn’t driven by their emotions at the time.

You see…digging a little deeper to find a better answer is hard. But well worth the effort.

In the aftermath of mass murders at places like Sandy Hook Elementary and Sutherland Springs First Baptist, all too much focus has been placed on whether we should or should not arm the populace; as if that’s the only answer. But as Threat Assessment and Management experts, we know there should be a much broader discussion going on about how to keep your people safe.

Don’t misunderstand. We both carried handguns every day for many years. In one of many deadly force incidents as a Police Officer in Little Rock, Doug challenged four armed robbers, exchanging gun fire while chasing them in the downtown streets until he couldn’t chase anymore, because Doug was shot.  Tim has counseled officers who justifiably killed a suspect to save someone else’s life, yet still have a hard time carrying that burden. Death is hard. Death by your hand is much, much harder. Even when it is necessary to save lives.

A gun is a tool that, sadly, may play a role in keeping your people safe. But it isn’t the only tool. And we can tell you from experience you don’t want it to be the first tool you reach for.

So this week’s tip is simple. Don’t begin your discussion with whether or not your people should carry guns to church. Begin with asking where you are vulnerable and what are the top five things you could do to prevent or respond to these weak spots.

Of course, we’d encourage you to reach out to us or someone else who is an experienced threat assessment and management professional for expert advice on letting your people worship in peace.

Somebody do something!

In his book “How Do You Kill 11 Million People?,” author Andy Andrews simplifies the process that terrorists and dictators and convicts have always used to accomplish nefarious purposes. In fact, the origin of this technique could be traced back to Genesis 3. In what might seem at first glance to be an oversimplification, the three-word answer still rings true: “Lie to them.”

That’s really all it takes. But to be especially successful the lie should promise something they desire. Lucifer promised Eve omniscience. Hitler promised Chamberlain peace. And Bin Laden promised Flight 93’s Jarrah that heaven followed martyrdom. In order to correct these errors, God sent Christ, Britain called Churchill and Todd Beamer rallied enough passengers to crash United 93 into a cornfield instead of the capitol. But what if they never had to act?

In two of the three examples mentioned above, we know that there were warning signs. Lots of warning signs. Yet no one took effective action. Or at least the right people didn’t take the right action, leaving those affected to believe they must fend for themselves. And that can be dangerous because everyone isn’t a Churchill or a Beamer. We just saw such a case in a matter that’s a little closer to home.

Mark Storms of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the fatal shooting of fellow congregant Robert Braxton III, just prior to Sunday morning worship. And it didn’t happen the way you think. Evidently, Braxton became upset because someone was sitting in his seat and caused a bit of a scene. When no one took effective action, Storms approached Braxton with his concealed weapon still holstered and showed him a badge he’d ordered off the internet, asking him to leave the church. Instead of submitting to Storm’s request, Braxton punched the self-appointed security officer who immediately pulled his gun and shot Braxton in the chest.

Situations like this leave us wondering what would have happened if this church had addressed the issue of security and safety? What if they’d shared their actions with the congregation? What if they’d formed a team and educated them on how to de-escalate such a problem? Or if they’d developed a policy for concealed carry that included the most basic rule about the use of deadly force: You can only use deadly force (that force which is likely to cause death or serious bodily injury) if you reasonably believe that you or another person are in imminent fear of death or serious bodily harm.

Getting punched usually isn’t enough.

You see, a leadership vacuum greatly increases the risk of vigilantism. When people see their leaders as uncaring or ineffective some of them will take action on their own. According to their own plan. With questionable, if not tragic, results.

Our tip this week is to have a five-minute meeting with everyone is your church that might be carrying a weapon. Ask the police officers or trained security guards not to respond at first, then ask the concealed-carry holders to tell you in a single sentence when they are allowed to shoot someone. Be certain their answer aligns with the most basic rule above. Then tell them Mark Storm’s story. Then pray.

To take it one step further, reach out to us and schedule some use-of-force education or verbal de-escalation training or subject control tactics for your team. We want to help you and your people worship in peace.

Myths can be entertaining, they can be annoying, and they can be deadly.

For instance – the tooth fairy doesn’t exist. If he did you definitely wouldn’t want him in your bedroom.

One reason that it is so hard to stay safe when threatened is that you may have bought in to one of the myths associated with targeted violence. The three major myths are:

Myth 1: It will never happen to me/us.

In this day and time, it really isn’t that hard to believe that it could happen to you. Think about it. Violence in the workplace has tripled, church shootings are on the rise, over a million women are stalked each year, and one in four women will experience domestic violence in their lifetime.

Oh yeah, it can happen to you.

Myth 2: It can’t be predicted.

We used to believe that most violence was random. Victims were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. We now know that virtually no violence is random – it is targeted. More importantly, we know that perpetrators act in certain, predictable ways. Nobody just snaps. There is an escalation to their behavior.

For those that know what to look for, we can often see it coming.

Myth 3: It can’t be prevented.

Ever hear the saying “Forewarned is forearmed”? If there are warning signs which can be recognized, then it only follows that there are strategies that can be developed to redirect the perpetrator. We do this all the time.

So I have good news! It is possible to prevent a violent act.

Bonus Myth: I don’t have any control.

One of the most insidious myths because it causes you to focus on everything except your own behavior. Unfortunately, you don’t control anything but your own behavior. Focusing on things you don’t control is a recipe for failure. In fact, as the target, you actually have the single, biggest impact on the outcome of the situation.

You just have to believe you have the power and work with someone who can help you do what must be done.

Take a look at some of our resources, and search out others, to educate yourself about what can be done.

After getting home, my curiosity assured that I called the Police Department to find out what was going on. Although I’d only been a cop at RPD for three years I knew everyone who worked there. They were a great group by and large, professional and competent. Imagine my surprise when I called the station and asked what all the sirens were about and the dispatcher hung up on me. The rest of the dialogue went something like this:

Dispatch:         “Rogers Police”

Me:                  “Hey, what’s going on up there?”

Dispatch:         “Hold on.”

Me:                  Hanging up and calling back.

Dispatch:         “Rogers Police”

Me:                  “Hey, what’s going on?”

Dispatch:         “What do you want?”

Me:                  “Who is this?”

Dispatch:         Click.

Me:                  Hanging up and calling back again.

Dispatch:         “Rogers Police”

Me:                  “This is Officer Tim Keck! Who is this?”

Dispatch:         “This is Frankie Parker. Don’t call back!”

Click.

Realizing that it may well have been Frankie’s angry voice I heard, I surmised what must have happened. Frankie Parker was a local thug that we in northwest Arkansas law enforcement had been dealing with for several years. I’d even arrested him myself on burglary charges once. One of the guys must have hooked him up and, while booking him, walked away for a minute. Parker was probably handcuffed to the wall, watching the incoming call light on the telephone and answering it before the dispatcher could pick it up. It was just the kind of thing he’d do, making himself as much of a pain in the butt as possible to anyone with a badge.

Since calling the department obviously wasn’t working I decided to phone my division commander, Lieutenant Pete Iles at home. Pete was a good guy and had been my first shift supervisor when I started at the PD. We’d sort of hit it off and I figured he’d know what to do. But Pete didn’t answer the phone, his wife did. Connie was an intelligent woman with a razor-sharp wit but she wasn’t in the mood to chat. She informed me that Frankie Parker had evidently committed a double murder, gone to the station and shot Officer Ray Feyen. He’d then taken over the building, holding everyone at bay. Pete had rushed up there a couple of hours earlier and she was worried. I couldn’t believe my ears. Double homicide? Officer down? This couldn’t be happening. But if it was happening, the fact that Frankie Parker was at the middle of it was no real surprise.

I grabbed my pistol and ballistic vest as my wife turned on the television to catch the local news. Hugging my two boys, ages 4 and 7, I headed out the door. In those days we didn’t have take-home cars so I jumped into my blue Ford pick-up and made for the station. The department wasn’t very far away but I probably broke a number of traffic laws on the short trip there. It didn’t matter – there wasn’t a patrol car anywhere around. As I drove down Poplar Street approaching the PD the scene looked more and more surreal. There were cars parked everywhere. Police cars, sheriff’s cars, fire trucks, ambulances and vehicles abandoned by citizens who wanted to get a look. I finally found a parking space a couple of blocks south of the station on 3^rd Street and made my way back down toward our building. The address of the department was 212 W. Elm Street.

The police department was located at in an old 3 story building that also housed city hall, the fire department, and municipal court. It had been listed on the National Register of Historic Places and, with the WWI Memorial cannon sitting beside it, usually looked a little slice of Americana. But tonight it looked like a scene from an old movie. There were cops surrounding the perimeter in haphazard fashion, some hunkered down behind cars with guns drawn and others relaxing with a smoke and chatting with one another. There were state troopers, sheriff’s deputies from both Benton and nearby Washington counties, and municipal officers from virtually every surrounding town.

I finally located Chief of Police Dennis Musteen who had taken a place of cover near the southwest corner of the property. Chief Musteen was a veteran police officer who’d been with the department for two decades. We were joined there by officers Mike Lott and Mike Mann. Lott was a tall red-haired man who took his job very seriously. He was also one of the best shots with a pistol I’d ever seen. Mann was an average-sized guy with a crazy sense of humor and a lot of natural leadership ability. He was also a close friend.

Together, they began to tell me the story about what had evidently transpired that night. Frankie Parker had gone to the home of his former in-laws, James and Sandra Warren with the apparent intent to kill his former sister-in-law, Cindy. The Warren’s, who lived on West Mulberry Street, were good people; liked and respected by all who knew them. But Frankie didn’t care about that. When he arrived at their home with a recently purchased Tec-9 pistol, Cindy saw him coming and escaped through a bedroom window. James and Sandra were not so lucky. Unable to locate Cindy, Parker instead shot her parents down in cold blood.

He then left and drove to the home of his ex-wife, Pamela. I knew Pam Warren well. We’d gone to school together in Rogers. She had always struck me as quiet and kind, the polar opposite of the man whom she would later marry. Parker kicked Pam’s door in and forced her at gunpoint into his car. He then drove to the Rogers Police Department and parked right out front. By the time he got there it was after 5:00 and most of the civilian employees had gone home for the evening. That turned out to be a huge blessing.

Walking in through the department’s ground floor glass door into the small lobby, Parker approached the counter. The secretarial area came into immediate view but the women who worked there (unprotected and unarmed) were already on their way home for the evening. If they’d still been at work, it could have been a bloodbath.

Sitting in the first office on the right was Officer Ray Feyen. Ray was working on his second career after retiring from the US Army as an intelligence officer. Dragging Pam up to the countertop, Frankie reached over the top of the half-door and twisted the lock that served as the only security feature. The door swung open and Parker began to step through. At the same time Ray was moving toward the door of his office. Ironically, he began to ask “How may I help you?” when Parker opened fire from point blank range.

Ray was struck by 3 bulletsfrom Parker’s gun as he reflexively moved backwards away from the pistol. He was even able to draw and return fire amidst the hail of bullets, driving Parker (and his hostage) to the back of the station. Officer Feyen had gone down and Parker probably thought he was dead as he explored the back part of the building, looking for his next victim.

What Parker didn’t know was that the only other person in the building at that time was the dispatcher, a very surprised Monty Balk. Monty had been sitting in the room next to Ray’s office at the dispatcher’s desk when Parker came in. Evidently, Parker thought he would only encounter an unarmed dispatcher when he came into the station. After getting shot at by Officer Feyen, he believed he’d just had bad luck and that Ray must have been working the radio that night. He never saw Monty.

Monty was a slender young man, only 23 years old, when he decided to take his first step toward fulfilling his goal to become a police officer. He intended to work as a radio dispatcher until he could get transferred to the street as an officer. He didn’t know he’d be in the midst of a firefight, witness an officer go down, and then be all alone with an armed gunman on the loose before ever leaving the radio room. But that’s exactly what had happened.

Seeing Parker disappear down the hallway, Monty took the .357 magnum pistol that was positioned under the dispatch desk in a hidden holster (for emergencies only) and went to Ray. Bleeding from multiple shots to his torso, Monty knew he could never get the badly wounded officer out of the building before Parker found his way back to them. Thinking fast, the young dispatcher opened the door to the small microfiche closet and drug Ray inside. Promising to return, Monty then had the presence of mind to grab a walkie-talkie as he ran out the back door.

The only other people nearby were the firefighters who were on duty at the opposite end of the building. Monty ran straight to their back door and told them what had happened. That’s when the call for help went out.

Officer Feyen would soon be rescued in a daring move by Officer Terry Woodside and Trooper Keith Ferguson. Terry was a good-looking, blonde haired, all-American type and my best friend through high school. After serving a stint in the Marine Corps, I had convinced him that police work was what he really wanted to do. Keith Ferguson was a long-time state police officer and family friend who epitomized the term “old school.”  They approached the small room Ray was in from the outside and managed to get the window open. Risking their lives, they drug Ray out through the window and to the waiting paramedics who whisked him to the hospital. Ray was badly hurt but they thought he would live. In the meantime, more and more help arrived and the building had been surrounded.

Now that I had a better understanding of what had brought us to this point I took a closer look around. There were dozens, maybe hundreds, of citizens lining the streets trying to get up close to the action. Although the sidewalks immediately adjacent to the PD were clear, the nearby blocks were jam packed. An announcer from a local radio station gave the play-by-play as officers moved around the building seeking cover, evidently not realizing he was jeopardizing their safety. Other media outlets had called the department and spoken with Parker himself, giving him the airtime he so desperately craved.

Inside the station Parker had the run of the department. He threatened Pam and made phone calls, reveling in the moment. Lieutenant Mike Jones had been given the job of hostage negotiator. A hard-working, tough-talking cop, with an adolescent’s sense of humor, Jones was one of the best investigators the department had ever seen. Having spent most of his career in the detective division, Jones was cut from the same cloth as his mentor, Lieutenant Bob Casto. Casto was a legend at RPD; a veteran cop who scared rookies more than any bad guy. That’s why making Jones the crisis negotiator seemed to most of us a little like making Rambo a Sunday School teacher.

As we gathered in small clusters around the building perimeter and talked about what to do, I noticed Corporal Steve Helms conducting a reconnaissance of the back corner of the building. Knowing Parker was, at least occasionally, sitting in the radio room, Helms was considering what plan might get us in the building and in a position to end Parker’s reign of terror. Steve Helms was an extremely competent young officer with a heart for doing things the right way. He was also the sniper on our SWAT team. The problem he had was the one all of us on SWAT shared; our gear was inside the station with the bad guy.

Suddenly, a shotgun blast shattered the night air. Then, a micro-second later, a big-bore rifle round went off. The shotgun had evidently come from the rear of the building and the rifle sounded like it was really close by, probably on the west end near the cannon. I was looking right at Helms (whom I would later nickname “Hobie”) when the gunfire started. If I thought it sounded close, he must have thought they were shooting at him. He crouched down and froze in place. He would later say that he was expecting rounds to start flying in from all around the building as every officer there let loose a barrage at the bad guy. Fortunately, not knowing exactly where the rounds had come from, every officer held their fire.

It’s a good thing they did, too. Because not only was the bad guy not shooting at them, he wasn’t shooting at all. The shotgun blast had come from a state trooper who took a shot at Parker as he strolled past a door. Unfortunately, he missed. The second round came from the sniper we had borrowed from another agency who’d taken a prone position near a large tree on the west end of the property. The first shot had startled him enough to make him fire an accidental round from his rifle into the building. Fortunately, he missed as well.

We soon got word back from the negotiators that Parker had just shot Pam in the abdomen. He was getting increasingly agitated and was threatening to kill her. Chief Musteen was forced to make two very difficult decisions. He gave the “green light” to the sniper, authorizing him to take the suspect out if he could. He also decided that the SWAT team should get prepared to go in and rescue Pam. We were ready to do that but, of course, we were without our equipment. I pointed that out to the Chief and he suggested that I should borrow some.

I ran to the end of the block and found Officer Jim Ketterman from the Springdale Police Department. Explaining our dilemma, Jim got on the radio and then went to his trunk. He dug a ballistic vest, a gas mask, and some other gear out of his car and promised more would arrive soon from their department. It did and we borrowed enough stuff to get us by as we planned an entry.

As I leaned back against a car and contemplated how much fun it wasn’t going to be to do our first hostage rescue without flash-bangs and wearing borrowed gear, my mind drifted back to all the encounters I’d had with Frankie Parker. I’d personally taken reports in which he’d been the suspect, like the time he slashed his ex-wife’s tires. I had the satisfaction of building a case on him after he broke into Pam’s duplex by climbing through the common attic from the other side. He’d stolen and damaged a lot of property and I was able to get him arrested. Unfortunately, the criminal charge was dealt away after he spent time in jail for contempt of court on the civil side of that same case. Several officers had similar stories and we’d all talked about what would eventually happen between Parker and his former spouse. None of us thought it would be a happy ending. And it wasn’t.

My thoughts were interrupted by the thwack, thwack, thwack sound of a helicopter rotor. Looking overhead I saw a dark-colored chopper flying just above the building. The letters KY3 emblazoned on the side told me it was the news helicopter from TV Channel 3 in Springfield, Missouri. News helicopters flying overhead are something we’ve grown accustomed to in this day and time, but 25 years ago in Rogers, Arkansas; it might as well have been Santa and his reindeer. That wouldn’t have seemed any stranger.

Another frightening report soon came in from the negotiators; Frankie had just shot Pam a second time. My heart sank. Could she still be alive? This was someone I’d known for years and I wanted to do something to help her. What if she died while we sat outside planning and waiting? What must be going through her mind as she sits there bleeding, in terrible pain from two gunshot wounds, wondering if help would ever come?

Chief Musteen was evidently thinking the same thoughts. He gave us the order to make an entry as best we could and rescue the hostage. I gulped as we stood up and got ready to go in. We weren’t ready. I was sure of that. Our leader, Lieutenant Darrel Brock was at the police academy for training. We’d never trained for this type of rescue and we were wearing borrowed equipment. We were outgunned. The whole thing stunk, but this was the only chance Pam had. So be it.

Or not. The radio crackled that the negotiators had good news. Parker had decided to come out! He was going to walk to the front door and give up. We all breathed a cautious sigh of relief that this nightmare might actually be coming to an end. Orders went out over the radio that Parker was coming to the front door. Ironically, the fact that Parker had decided to come out never made it to our borrowed sniper.

The night air was once again broken by the report of a high-powered rifle. Still operating with a green light, the sniper saw Parker come into view in his scope. With little time to aim, he did his level best to end the suspect’s criminal career without a trial. Instead, he shot Parker’s thumb off. But that was enough to make the suspect fall to the floor in pain.

As soon as we received the report that the suspect was down, Chief Musteen ordered Officer’s Lott and Mann to enter the building and take the suspect into custody. They did so very quickly and were followed in by medics from the Rogers Fire Department who attended to Pam’s injuries. Parker was also treated and both were transported to St. Mary’s hospital amidst the noises of the crowd and the flash of reporter’s cameras.

Walking into the department after the ordeal was over didn’t make the surreal feeling I had go away. I stood and stared at bullet holes in the walls and bloodstains on the floor of the place where I worked. I was still thinking how strange it was that this vicious, violent act had happened to us. But I never thought it strange that Frankie Parker was the one who did it. Sitting around the squad room, we’d predicted that Frankie would commit a horrible crime. And if we knew that, wasn’t there anything that could have been done to stop him? Little did I know that many other victims of violent crime would have to ask that same question before someone finally listened.

Throughout my career I studied human behavior and how to predict it. And I wasn’t the only one. Led by the United States Secret Service, the State Department, and others a new field emerged. The field of Threat Assessment and Management. Threat Assessment and Management (TAM) is the art and science of determining how dangerous a circumstance really is, then putting a plan in place to deescalate the danger and keep everyone safe. It is backed by solid science and tons of empirical data. Turns out there are ways to both predict such crimes and, many times, prevent them.

Frankie’s wife, Pam, and my friend Ray lived though that terrible ordeal. Ray finished his second career and, as of this writing, still hasn’t slowed down. Pam and I served on the board of the Benton County Women’s Shelter together. Frankie died by lethal injection.

I would go on to become a TAM practitioner and, later, a court-certified expert witness on such matters. Myself and my colleagues have saved a lot of lives over the years. We’ve helped CEO’s and celebrities, ministers and models, rock stars and regular people stay safe.

Let us know if we can help you.

Chief Tim D. Keck, ret.